“The Bills Be Snatching It”: TikToker’s Viral Cost of Living Confession Has X Debating Whether $40 an Hour Is Enough

A TikTok creator says he is earning more money than ever but still skips meals because his bills take almost everything. In a clip re-shared by the X account Wall Street Apes, he said the cost of living has climbed so high that there is “nothing” left to cut from his budget even at a higher wage.

The TikToker has already cut back on small purchases. He said there is “no more cutting back on Starbucks coffees, subscriptions,” and adds that he now has days where he thinks, “I ain’t gonna eat for lunch.”

He said he was “making the most money” he had ever earned but that “the bills be [sic] snatching it” as soon as his pay came in. In his view, the problem is not income alone, adding, “I’m not even gonna say we not making enough money. Everything just too high.”

He mentions making $40 an hour as an example and says that even at that rate “you just barely making it,” describing a situation where there is “just enough and maybe a couple hundred extra.”

The X post that shared his video wrote that the TikTok creator is “right” and said they “did the math to prove it.” The post claims that in many areas a one-bedroom apartment can cost about $1,800 to more than $2,500 per month, and argues that this can equal more than 40 percent of take-home pay for someone earning $40 per hour.

The account then lists expenses such as insurance, gas, groceries, and taxes and says that once those are added, people “likely have nothing left making $40 per hour.”

The caption also refers to “a new 2026 poll” and says 75 percent of American workers struggle to afford more than basic needs. Wall Street Apes ends the post by writing, “This can’t continue. We can’t keep living like this.”

Replies to the X thread varied widely from sympathy to blames. One user focused on immigration and wrote, “Deport the illegals. Housing is less in demand and so less expensive,” arguing that taxes and health care costs would also fall because public funds would not be used to support what they called “gimmegrants.”

Another commenter pointed to monetary policy, writing,, “If you don’t want inflation, don’t elect people who are okay with increasing the supply of money,” urging others to look at changes in the M2 money supply since early 2020.

Other replies questioned whether people are truly at a breaking point. One commenter asked who was paying for services like OnlyFans, food delivery apps, concert tickets and Starbucks if most people were truly at their financial limit, and said they would believe in a breaking point when those industries began to struggle.

Another supported the TikToker’s concerns and wrote, “$40 an hour used to feel like solid money. Now it barely covers rent in most cities, and after insurance, gas, groceries and taxes there’s literally nothing left. People aren’t lazy or bad with money the math just doesn’t work anymore.”

The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the TikTok creator’s income or expenses or the specific cost assumptions in the X post.